Galina Ustvolskaya was a profoundly original composer, unrivalled in the extremism of her style, who was largely ignored during her lifetime.
Fiercely independent, Ustvolskaya created highly expressive, often violent music that sounds like the work of no other composer and reveals no clear influences, while frequently imbued with a sense of religiosity or spirituality.
Her music has been described as having “the narrowness of a laser beam capable of piercing metal.” Only after her death was Ustvolskaya’s original and uncompromising talent finally recognised.
Christian Karlsen and the London Philharmonic Orchestra here present Ustvolskaya’s five symphonies.
While the First appears superficially traditional (it is the only one written for full symphony orchestra), it features two boys singing – through microphones, in a chanting manner – texts that speak of poverty, racism, and injustice.
Symphonies Nos. 2 to 5 break decisively with the traditional mould; each consists of a single, rather short movement, in the manner of a theatrical ritual.
Written for instrumental combinations as varied as they are unusual, these symphonies became increasingly intransigent as their instrumentation contracted further and further, down to just a handful of instruments in the Fourth and Fifth.
A solo voice appears sporadically, not necessarily to sing, but rather to verbalise a prayer – a prayer asking for forgiveness, but not for a better life.
